Where does your mail go? Likely up Island for sorting and dispatching

Wondering about those slots in the Post Office that seem to indicate if you send a letter from the Center to the Heights it will go directly?

Not the case.

The only time mail is delivered directly between the two Island Post Office ZIP codes is if it lands in either one incorrectly, and then it’s shuttled over to the other Post Office, according to regional United States Postal Service (USPS) spokeswoman Christine Dugas, who is based in Rhode Island.

But if you mail a letter in either Post Office, whether you put it in a collection box or in one of the slots inside the building — and whether it’s intended for someone on the Island, across the country or a foreign destination — it’s going to the Mid-Island Processing & Distribution Center in Melville.

All mail is sorted with automated equipment at processing and distribution centers, according to the USPS. It’s similar to the business model FedEx created, sending material to a central sorting area before routing it to the intended destinations.
Automated equipment was first installed by the USPS in the 1950s, but through the years, it’s undergone major changes as computerization became more sophisticated, according to USPS website.

The aim was to replace costly hand sorting to curb growing costs of handling mail, according to the USPS.

“It’s the same across the country,” Ms. Dugas said.

Mail goes to the distribution center for processing and then is dispatched by various means of transportation depending on how far it has to travel to its intended destination.

The processing centers maintain a 24-hour operation and most of the sorting and processing is done at night for dispatch the following morning, Ms. Dugas said.